the new jersey congressman, josh gottheimer, and robert f kennedy jr. is on capitol hill as he tries to win support for his bid to become the u.s. health secretary. president elect donald trump, defending kennedy and his views on vaccines at his first news conference since winning the election. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in the situation room. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> we begin our coverage tonight with the breaking news in wisconsin. another shooting at an american school. by cnn's count, at least the 83rd of this year, a source now tells cnn the suspect, now deceased, used a nine millimeter pistol. cnn's whitney wild is covering the story for us from madison, where we're expecting a news conference just a short time from now. whitney, give us the latest fatalities, including the shooter. >> madison. well, we're learning a few more details at this point. cnn shimon prokupecz is learning from a law enforcement source that the shooter was 17 years old and died of a self-inflicted

joining me is josh gottheimer.have you here, congressman, welcome. >> thank you for having me. >> there the tiktok-ers, freaking out, not sure if their livelihood will be disrupted and others who say, no, trump is going to take office and it is going to be fine. >> i'm all for protecting livelihoods that is why we've given tiktok time to sell it to an ally and anyone not focused, the law said, on actually disrupting america and pushing anti-american or hateful propaganda on our platforms in the united states to the 150 million americans or so who are on tiktok and using it every day. and collecting data on americans and, of course, as you saw in the overwhelming bipartisan vote on this legislation, either to force a sale or shut it down, it is come from one place. we're very concerned that you have china, our number one adversary, or the government of china, or others like iran or russia or north korea, controlling information into the united states of america and pushing false information out, especially to young

let me bring in new jersey democrat josh gottheimer, member of the intelligence committee and one ofl hear the briefing. good to see you. >> thank you for having me. >> you heard the official message from john kirby at the white house, police commissioner there. this is usual activity and the only thing that is going up is the number of people calling in about it. there have always been a lot of drones. is that what is happening here? >> first you don't insult people by saying they are not seeing what they are seeing with their own eyes. i have heard from so many constituents who are seeing things, we set up a website where people can put information to pass on to dhs. what i'm hearing is we are seeing things and you are not giving us straight answers. it has been drip, drip, drip from the fbi and homeland security. what i called for is let's go out there and give people a proper public briefing, explain to people what we think is out there, what's going on and make sure everyone is safe. and what i have gotten from the briefings is that i don't think there is an imminent threat to p

. >>> josh gottheimer joining us, a democrat who sefx on rves on house intelligence committee.been asking questions and you were briefed by the fbi and department of homeland security, your committee, so they have no idea what's going on? >> well, listen, based on what i've seen -- thanks for having me -- there's no reason in my mind based on what they analyzed there's any credible threats to public safety at this time. that i feel good about based on what the fbi has briefed me on. that said, the hundreds of sightings, the images, andy kim, senator now in new jersey, said he has seen them himself, he posted something about that, right, so clearly there's something going on out there and what's driving me crazy and i think a lot of my colleagues in the state government and, of course, federally is that the fbi and department of homeland security who are responsible for monitoring and being aware of what's in the skies is not giving us a public briefing, giving us enough information, telling us exactly where these drones are coming from, who's sending them up. are they all unlic

your colleague, representative josh gottheimer, told cnn this morning that federal officials, quote, have a responsibility to brief the public more thoroughly and make sure everyone knows what they know. what do you know about these drones or flying objects? where they're coming from? is your sense that the public isn't being given the whole story with this lack of explanation? >> yeah, i think that we have a lot of questions right now. as you know, uh, there have been sightings of these drones not only over new jersey, but now, uh, in neighboring states. and so, um, i'm looking forward to a briefing early next week. i'm hopeful that it will be forthcoming. >> what can you tell us that that you do know right now um, all i know is that, uh, basically these sightings are now numerous, and we know that, you know, commercial drones are being operated by amateurs all over the united states. >> we know that 50% of the commercial drone market is supplied by dji, which is a ccp controlled company, um, and obviously i'm concerned about that because those dji drones are, um, capable of basical

and that includes democratic congressman from new jersey, josh gottheimer, who is also running for governor right now. thanks for joining me. you think that the federal the federal officials should offer a public briefing on the situation, the fbi and the dhs and dhs, they put out a statement. and i know you saw this, congressman, but they put out a statement yesterday. i'm going to read what they said, in part because i want your take. they put out we have no evidence at this time. the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus. the fbi, dhs or federal partners in close coordination with new jersey state police, continue to deploy personnel and technology to investigate the situation and confirm whether the reported drone flights are actually drones or instead, manned aircraft or otherwise inaccurate sightings. is that enough for you? >> not at all. i mean, listen, i agree with the assessment based on the briefings i've had from dhs and the fbi, that there is no reason to believe these drones pose any immediate, credible threats to pub

let's discuss this and more with democratic new jersey congressman josh gottheimer. he's a member of the house intelligence committee. congressman, thank you so much for being with us. i do want i do want to talk to you about drones and the drones that have been hovering over new jersey and parts of the northeast. but first, i did want to ask you something about the electoral process, because yesterday, some of your democratic colleagues on the senate side unveiled an amendment to abolish the electoral college. i wonder if you would support it. >> i haven't seen that. but what i do support, as you were just talking about, is, of course, a peaceful transfer of power. we have a lot of work to do this coming congress. >> and as you know, it's going to be a very narrow majority in the house, and it's going to take many of us working together to make sure the country runs, including, by the way, this week on our annual appropriations measures to keep the government funded and running and helping our veterans and our first responders and our families with support for child

. >> with us now is democratic congressman and new jersey gubernatorial candidate josh gottheimer. congressman, thanks so much for being with us. thanks for having me. president biden promised us that he would not pardon his son, hunter. he just did. your reaction? >> so i'm always for accountability but what i'm not for are political prosecutions and let's be honest, the only reason why they went after hunter the way they did and i've talked to many federal prosecutors about this, is because he's the president's son, right? it's somebody who has a lifelong drug addiction and prosecutors would have handled this differently. so this was all politically motivated. so i understand your lawyer. >> have you ever seen a pardon like this that not just grants him clemency for specific crimes, but also over a ten year period for anything he might have done? >> i mean, presidents have obviously used their pardon authority over the years. the bottom line in this case, though, is as a dad with his son who was prosecuted because of the president, united states and the states and the way he was,

new jersey democratic congressman josh gottheimer joins me now. he's also running for governor. we should note, congressman, so you sent a letter to those agencies asking for more information. have you heard back from any of them? >> they appear ready to brief. and i've asked them i've had private briefings with dhs, homeland security and the fbi. but listen, the public has a right to know what all these drones are. i mean, i'm i will tell you this through all my briefings that i've had, um, i'm not concerned about any imminent threat to public safety, and that's true. um, but, you know, as the as you just saw with the video that was played, people are really concerned about what they're seeing. and i think it's time that these federal agencies that are responsible for this come clean and say what they know to the public. and, of course, i think it's really time to give law enforcement the tools they need to stop this next time and to understand what's out there, make sure these drones are not operating in places they shouldn't be like over reservoirs or police departments or of

congressman josh gottheimer, thanks for your time tonight. we appreciate it. >> thanks, jessica. take care. >> new tonight, a report from the department of justice is revealing some disturbing police practices used in a suburban new york town. that report finding that until at least the fall of 2022, it was the mount vernon police force's practice to strip search every person it arrested. that included the illegal strip search of two women who were 65 and 75 years old at the time. they were arrested on suspicion of buying drugs back in 2020. and for perspective on this, we're joined now by former nypd detective sergeant felipe rodriguez. he's now an adjunct professor at the john jay college of criminal justice. thanks so much for being here with us. help us understand how unusual this blanket policy is. like this well, a blanket policy like this shouldn't exist. >> after all, we're looking at what the violation of individual's constitutional rights. it should be the exception, not the policy of strip searching an individual. i know in the nypd, we're very strict about this. you k

here is congressman josh gottheimer.in new jersey and around the country deserve clear answers. they deserve transparency from their government. >> the white house is going to brave the house intelligence committee at 2:00 on the drone sightings. we will see what comes of that. >> laura: nate, thank you so much. >> the government knows what is happening. they know where it came from and where it went. for some reason, they don't want to comment. i think they would be better off saying what it is. our military nose and our president knows. for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense. >> laura: a story a hundred years from now to explain the trump era, they will have to catalog the gross negligence and recklessness of the establishment that kept running this country into a ground and expecting a trophy for. that drone issue is the latest example. >> our assessment is that this is lawful, legal, commercial, hobbyist and law enforcement aircraft activity. some of it is man and some of it unmanned. i think there are

they were first spotted in new jersey congressman josh gottheimer state.hat we don't have more information. new jersey senator andy kim posted this video of drone activity to ex kim says they were even clusters of drones as lawmakers demand answers. the white house is downplaying the drones as a threat. >> we have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security. >> a public safety threat. >> white house officials say right now the drones are not breaking. any laws appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft. >> that are being operated lawfully. former maryland governor larry hogan posted on x. he saw mystery drones in his state. tennessee congressman tim burchett says he knows why no one's reported. sightings in his state. there's a reason you're not saying i'm in a stand and say. >> because everybody's got 12 gauge this, they start dropping those things. >> president elect trump posted online that the federal government should release their information regarding the drones or shoot them down

involving democratic congressman and picture your mom texted you of her dentist who's still single, josh gottheimerttheimer is running for new jersey governor, but he recently got himself in some hot water after sharing his spotify wrapped, which he claimed featured all bruce springsteen songs, until the internet sleuths quickly pointed out that the list gottheimer had posted was fake. the tipoff? the fonts and the spacing were all wrong. even more suspicious, his favorite springsteen songs were "dancing in the dank," "born to jog," and "born in the u.s.a, the place where i jog." after gottheimer was called out, he confessed that he shares a spotify account with his two children, who are 12 and 15, so the playlist he posted was a reflection of what his would look like if he had an individual account. it's a joke to question my springsteen creds. just ask my dog named rosalita." "i swear i love the boss. just ask my dog named rosalita, or my daughter, tenth avenue freeze-out." we got a great show for you tonight! my guests are nicole kidman and bill skarsgard. but when we come back, my wife evie and

i talked with represent josh gottheimer about this last hour and he called on the fbi to act and to reveal more about what is going on. and now maryland governor larry hogan is saying he personally saw dozens of large drones above his house last night. and he's also calling on the federal government, tyler, to immediately address the issue. >> well, i think -- it is not just the gummies that these people are taking, folks. there really are these -- >> there are -- >> and objects in the sky. and some are not the package delivery drones. they're sizable. there is a lot of them. >> it is happening in new jersey. i've heard reports of new york and maryland. so what seemed like a niche issue just a week ago is an issue, where it is time for the officials to get up there and tell us what they know, and what they think could find out about this and why this is taking place. >> fascinating stuff. we start with some potentially major changes to the u.s. banking system under the trump administration. the "wall street journal" reporting that president-elect trump's team is looking to shrink bank regu

new jersey congressman josh gottheimer says he's fed up with the lack of explanation. >> i'll be introducing resolution in congress calling on the fbi, the department of homeland security and the faa, the lead agencies, to publicly brief on what they know about the drones. not a paper statement, but actually get out there and do a proper public session where they review what they know and take questions. i believe the people who i represent, and as i've been saying for some time, the people in new jersey around the country deserve clear answers. >> stewart international airport in orange county had to be temporarily shut down saturday due to drone activity. new york governor kathy hochul wants the feds to give states more authority to deal with the problem in the skies, but right now, only the federal government can do that. president elect trump says it's time for washington to come clean. >> the government knows what is happening. look, our military knows where they took off from. if it's a garage, they can go right into that garage. they know where it came from and where it went. and for

we heard from new jersey congressman josh gottheimer.g for the creation of an air traffic center specifically for drones, similar to the ones we have at airports. we're expecting to hear more pressure put on both the biden administration and congress to increase search efforts and resources for local authorities here in new jersey and new york. kate and zinhle? >> this has generated so much discussion online and on the ground. you spoke to people in new jersey about these sightings. what are they saying? >> reporter: i did. there's mixed reactions. on the one hand folks are genuinely concerned. they're fearful for not having information on what the drones are. others say there's been a little hype around the story and don't fear for their safety. here's a little more of our conversation. >> i think it's definitely an overreaction. >> what are your thoughts on the drone news? >> oh, boy, it's -- it's sort of scary. i mean, i don't really know what to think about it. >> why haven't they found the origin of the drone? i don't know why that'

josh gottheimer had claimed that on his spotify wrapped, his top five songs were all springsteen hitsize that he may have had an overly hungry heart here. sleuths think they had a reason to believe that there were actually design differences that betrayed a kind of scam, the differences between the post he put up, which again, he claimed was his spotify wrap and the actual layout, and then his campaign coughed up the actual results, not his springsteen scam. and it turns out his account was wrapped with travis scott, drake, and taylor swift among the top choices. gottheimer says there's more to the story, he still has springsteen cred, that his wrap list would be all boss, but his account is joined with his kids and who can blame you for sharing music with your kids? we can blame you for making up your spotify wrap. you could have beat this by being honest up front. i guess you could say it's hard to be a int in the city when it comes to these kind of competitions. gottheimer is campaigning to be the state's governor. he clearly thinks it's a job for which he was born to run. you got

they were first spotted in new jersey congressman josh gottheimer state.totally ridiculous that we don't have more information. new jersey senator andy kim posted this video of drone activity to ex kim says they were even clusters of drones as lawmakers demand answers. the white house is downplaying the drones as a threat. >> we have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security. >> a public safety threat. white house officials say right now the drones are not breaking. any laws appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully. former maryland governor larry hogan posted on x he saw mystery drones in his state. tennessee congressman tim burchett says he knows why no one's reported sightings in his state. there's a reason you're not saying i'm in a stand and say. >> with because everybody's got 12 gauge at the state started dropping those and we do know house speaker mike johnson has been briefed when it comes to the drones reporting in washington reshad hudson, b

all right, that's new jersey congressman josh gottheimer, who's running for state governor there. you know, it's pretty standard for new jersey politicians to sound real new jersey by loving diners and declaring their love for hometown heroes, bruce springsteen and this candidate, no exception. gottheimer published his spotify wrapped song list on social media. it was all bruce springsteen, except he faked it. a reporter for the star-ledger posted this side by side comparison of gottheimer's post and the real spotify wrapped on the right, pointing out the g's look different. some of the number styles don't match as well. gottheimer admitted he mocked up a look alike, saying he shares it with his kids, and there was a lot of taylor swift on it. his top list would not have looked the same if he had shown the real thing, but he swears he is a springsteen fan. i mean, i did post something like that. i was like, i don't have spotify, but if i did, this is what it would look like. and i and i copied somebody else's. but i was clear about running for governor. i'm not running for governo

they were first spotted in new jersey congressman josh gottheimer state.we don't have more information. new jersey senator andy kim posted this video of drone activity to ex kim says they were even clusters of drones as lawmakers demand answers. the white house is downplaying the drones as a threat. >> we have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security. >> a public safety threat. >> white house officials say right now the drones are not breaking. any laws appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft. >> that are being operated lawfully. former maryland governor larry hogan posted on x. he saw mystery drones in his state. tennessee congressman tim burchett says he knows why no one's reported sightings in his state. there's a reason you're not saying i'm in a stand and say. >> with because everybody's got 12 gauge this. they start dropping those things. mike johnson has received a classified briefing regarding the drones and we're still waiting to get an update from the speaker's office. ju

josh gottheimer still concerned.o say. >> there are postings of sightings all over the internet, some of them true and others, i'm concerned, are being sted by others to scare people. that's why i'm setting up on my website, a new page, where people from new jersey can share information on tips on their latest drone sightings. >> gottheimer also really trying to encourage an effort to create an air traffic control system for drones specifically. so we'll be monitoring that as well. >> jamie, let's talk about this. look, drones are a part of life, fortunately or unfortunately. we have been seeing proliferation of these under 249 drones and so any others. what do you think has been happening in the past three weeks? what are people seeing? >> well, i think it really just comes to the point that, you know, people have a really hard time identifying things that they see in the night sky. and drones, just like any other aircraft, have navigation lights on board. and it is really difficult to determine a sense of scale, bo

that's new jersey congressman josh gottheimer, who's running for state governor there. as you may know, it's pretty standard for new jersey politicians to try to sound like real new jerseyans by loving diners and loving their hometown hero, bruce springsteen. this candidate? no exception. gottheimer published his spotify wrapped top song list on social media. it was all bruce springsteen, except he faked it. a reporter for the star-ledger posted this side by side comparison of gottheimer's post and the real spotify wrapped on the right, pointing out the g's look different. some of the number styles don't match as well. gottheimer admitted he did mock up a look alike, saying he shares the spotify with his kids, and he did. if he didn't share it, that's how his list would have looked. my mother and i share a spotify account, and so i get a lot of perikomo and then a lot of sort of, you know, u2, styx, 80s music as my mom loves u2 and styx. yeah, i know she's like into metal and her hair rocks. yeah. and all i want to listen to is perry como. the same thing happens with us

listen to what congressman josh gottheimer had to say to that point. >> what's driving me crazy, andy colleagues in the state government and of course federally, is that the fbi and the department of homeland security, who are chiefly responsible for monitoring and being aware of what's up in the skies, is not giving us public briefing, giving us enough information, telling us where thee drones are coming from, who is sending them up, are they all unlicensed and unregistered, what are they? people deserve to know. >> and so, to answer the original question you had, chris, yes, there are plans for briefings to begin. they happened at the staff level on capitol hill, but they haven't been all that revealing. the problem many members of congress see, even if they get classified briefings where perhaps they're given more information that would calm some of their fears, that won't be enough for their constituents. they want this information to be made available licpublicly, and transparent as possible. the fear is in the absence of the hard facts, conspiracy theories are going to run wild

and of course, you recall yesterday you had that conversation with new jersey representative josh gottheimer, which basically reaffirmed what he told you yesterday, that he has been briefed by federal authorities and based on what he's been told, based on what he's been shown, that it basically puts any sort of fears to rest in terms of this being a potential threat to homeland security or to public safety. so that aside, he still has his questions and also his call for the federal government to fully brief the american people, mainly people in new jersey. he says he's been told what these are not, but he wants to hear what they actually are. and so we continue to hear that. meanwhile, the white house, the fbi, the department of homeland security, for their part, they've continued to reaffirm what they've said really since yesterday. and that is that thus far, the evidence that they have seen, they have not they don't believe that this is a threat. and they also have not received any reports of any drones flying in restricted airspace. but to your earlier point, jake, those sightings, they c

and here is what new jersey congressman josh gottheimer told us last hour. >> here's what i know. they've been able to brief me, that they're confident of what they're not. so now, i think it's really important that you tell the public what they are, right. and i think, listen, the public has a right to know because people are concerned. they have a responsibility to allay people's concerns, to tell the public what they know and don't know, and to make sure that people are safe and protected and that we're doing everything to protect our national security and our public security and safety. >> cnn's polo sandoval is following this one for us, polo. and there's also now new sightings and new places just north of where all these sightings had initially been reported in rockland county. >> an official there telling me there were four additional sightings and that would really make him the first sightings for that particular part of new york state. and they are certainly calling on the federal government to brief them to investigate and try to find out if these are in any way potentia

would you say that you agree with congressman gottheimer, josh gottheimer of new jersey? the soundbite that we just played, he was on cnn this morning talking about local officials being given the authority in certain circumstances to shoot drones out of the sky. would you say that you agree with him? >> i, i well, right now, current federal law. and when i'm speaking of current federal law, i'm speaking of the preventing emerging threats act of 2018. that law specifically does not provide doj or dhs the authority to delegate that authority to any other entity. so right now, current federal laws are really handcuffing our federal agencies. so that's why we really need to expand our, um, our laws to allow for this type of activity under the right supervision and training tom adams, we have to leave the conversation there. >> thanks so much for the time thanks so much. >> i appreciate it. brianna. >> we do have some breaking news. former house speaker nancy pelosi has been admitted to a hospital in luxembourg after she sustained an injury during an official engagement. that

we heard from new jersey congressman josh gottheimer who is asking for a public hearing.ormation today might be helpful, but what would be more helpful to my constituents is hearing from the government officials directly and clearly to get some more answers. >> as if the drone technology isn't enough, we understand artificial intelligence may be complicating the investigations, too? >> absolutely. some of these videos we've been reviewing in our own numbers numbers reporting, they've been made with artificial intelligence. it's important to be skeptical. john kirby is saying there's not much to be worried of, but still residents and people i spoke to in new jersey are confused and concerned over what they're saying. >> we understand there have been additional sightings beyond the northeast. what do we know? >> there was a sighting today and yesterday in ohio at the wright-patterson air force base. officials confirming multiple drones, but none of them actually interfered with operations there. they're asking the public to continue reporting any sightings, but have just re

they were first spotted in new jersey congressman josh gottheimer state. i just totally ridiculous that we don't have more information. new jersey senator andy kim posted this video of drone activity to ex kim says they were even clusters of drones as lawmakers demand answers. the white house is downplaying the drones as a threat. >> we have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security. >> a public safety threat. >> white house officials say right now the drones are not breaking. any laws appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft. >> that are being operated lawfully. former maryland governor larry hogan posted on x. he saw mystery drones in his state. tennessee congressman tim burchett says he knows why no one's reported sightings in his state. there's a reason you're not saying i'm in a stand and say. >> with because everybody's got 12 gauge at this stage, start dropping those things. >> president elect trump posted online that the federal government should release their information reg

they were first spotted in new jersey congressman josh gottheimer state. i just totally ridiculous that we don't have more information. new jersey senator andy kim posted this video of drone activity to ex kim says they were even clusters of drones as lawmakers demand answers. the white house is downplaying the drones as a threat. >>we have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security. >>or a public safety threat. white house officials say right now the drones are not breaking. any laws appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully. former maryland governor larry hogan posted on x. he saw mystery drones in his state. tennessee congressman tim burchett says he knows why no one's reported sightings in his state. there's a reason you're not saying i'm in a stand and say. >>because everybody's got 12 gauge the state started dropping those sites. >>president elect trump posted online that the federal government should release their information regarding the drones

. >>> we're going to talk about new jersey congress member josh gottheimer. that he faked his spotify wrapped list. the list summarizes each top played songs for the year. gottheimer posted the songs appearing to be all by bruce springsteen. the font and numerals in the spacing looked off. he created the list for fun. just relax. he said he shares an account with his children and the play list he posted was a reflection of what his would look like if he did have an individual account. gottheimer is running as governor. >> i'm glad that got cleared up. this is big news. >> he then posted his actual one. it had drake and taylor swift in the top five. he said, yeah, those are my kids. >> i have -- i don't know. i'm like a father. >> my bigger spotify problem, i don't know if you share with your family. we have a family account. if you are playing it somewhere and all of a sudden, it stops, i think some viewers will understand because they are playing it somewhere else and you have a competition with them. >> i do that with matt. i keep trying to override. >> you

this amendment offered by my cleaning, representative josh gottheimer of new jersey, ensures that the civic education curriculum in this bill covers how past and present communist and totalitarian regimes have committed grave human rights abuses and threatened demo democracies. mr. speaker, it is no secret that communist and totalitarian regimes view democracies as a threat. they have repeatedly sought to undermine democracies and threaten their stability at every turn. but these regimes also trample the rights of many of their own citizens. especially ethnic and religious minorities. as we know the people's republic of china has committed grave human rights abuses and according to the state department, continues to carry out genocide, crimes against humanity, forced labor, and other human rights violations against uyghurs in china's western provinces. the p.r.c. also poses an increasingly aggressive threat to taiwan. a key democracy and vital partner of the u.s. which shares our fundamental values. i firmly believe that it's worthwhile for students from all backgrounds to better unde